


Come with me, I'll take you home

by mothpope



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Barebacking, Emotional Sex, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gratuitous military backstory (I worked so hard on this bs), Having a good dad? Staci and Jacob can't relate, Homophobia, Jacob eats ass for breakfast lunch and dinner, Jacob is a good uncle, Joseph's wife and daughter are alive and amazing, Multi, No Cult AU, Non-con NOT between main pairings, Nosy family members, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Racism, Riding, Trauma, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unsafe Sex, Wholesome family bonding, changes to some of the canon backstories, like.... a fuck ton, scratching and biting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-17 08:46:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16971471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothpope/pseuds/mothpope
Summary: “For the record, next time you wanna be friends with someone you should probably just talk to them rather than slip an ominous note into their pocket.”“Well, I’m gonna take the fact that you’re still talkin’ to me as a sign that I made some progress.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written a fic in like, ten years, so please bear with me. This fic is is un beta-ed (sp? my ass cannot spell)  
> Also I may be Mexican/Puerto Rican but my Spanish is terrible (im a 2nd gen immigrant) so feel free to correct me!
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of child sexual abuse (nothing graphic, but still awful, I felt scared just writing it, it can be skipped however. The section starts at "September 7, 2001" and ends at "September 28, 2017"). There are also references to CSA throughout this story. If that is a trigger for you I encourage you to not read it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: I just realized I accidentally made a continuity error that will actually have an impact on the rest of the story. For those of you who have already read this chapter, Staci lives in a one-bedroom trailer, not two.

June 3, 1986

 

Jacob’s first thought was that John looked lonely. He was so incredibly tiny in his little incubator, tubes going in and out of him, isolated from the rest of the newborns.

“Is he gonna die?” He heard Joseph ask the nurse. She chuckled.

“No,” she said, leaning over slightly to meet Joe’s eyes, “he just came out too early. You see, babies stay in their mommy’s belly to grow, like bread rising in an oven, but sometimes things go wrong, and the baby comes out too early. Maybe the oven caught on fire, or maybe the glass broke, or maybe the temperature wasn’t quite right, so the baby comes out and we put him back in a smaller oven so he can finish growing.”

Joseph rolled his eyes, “You could’ve just saved the weird analogy and told me he was fine. I know what a preemie is. I’m twelve.” The nurse turned red.

It was Jacob’s turn to roll his eyes. He flicked Joe in the head, “She was trying to be nice, jackass.” Joe winced and rubbed his head, “Sorry,” he mumbled, and Jacob flicked him in the head again.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Don’t mumble.”

Joseph met her eyes, “Sorry, ma’am. That was rude of me.”

“I-It’s okay. I’m too used to talking to younger kids.” The nurse stood there awkwardly while Jacob and Joseph stared at their new brother.

Joseph startled when the nurse’s pager went off, “Shit! I-I mean shoot!,” she started to run off, but turned back to the boys, “You two stay here! Don’t go near your mother’s room!”

Joseph started to move after her, “Wait, what’s going on? What’s wrong? What—," Joe stopped when Jacob sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

He knew this was coming. He heard the doctors talking to their dad about it. Postpartum hemorrhage, too much blood loss, not enough blood for a transfusion, she had a matter of hours.

“She’s dying, Joe.”

Joseph looked back at Jacob, as if he couldn’t believe it, “Who’s dying?” He asked, as if he didn’t know.

“Our mother.”

* * *

 

September 21, 2017

 

The first time Staci Pratt meets Jacob Seed is when Staci is off duty. He and Joey decided to go to the Spread Eagle to celebrate Max Rook’s first day on the force. Joey and Staci felt like proud parents. Parents who would never be in a relationship because Joey Hudson is the biggest lesbian in Hope County and they grew up together, so ew.

Staci remembered the day Max moved to Hope County. He and his hippie parents had caused quite the stir when they hung an anarcho-communist flag in their window. Staci remembered their neighbor’s conversation with Whitehorse after they called the cops on them.

_“You’re just gonna let these Commie Jews do whatever the hell they want?”_

_“Sir, the ability to do whatever the hell they want is written in our Constitution. When they start breaking a law, let us know.”_

The Rooks never did break a law. They just farmed their vegetables for their vegan dinners, not harming a soul. Staci had always felt bad for Max though, all that vegan shit. Max had apparently never even touched meat until he started hanging out with Staci’s little sisters and coming over to his house all the time. Now he was a carnivore, a pig, and an Army vet, much to his parent’s chagrin, although they still support him.

Staci always envied Rook, and Joey. Wholesome families with great dads, the audacity. Rook’s dad, Greg, taught his sister how to code and build computers, and Joey’s dad, Luke, taught Staci how to shoot and fight, so maybe it wasn’t so bad. The Pratts may have been missing a father, but the neighborhood seemed to have stepped in where they needed. Being here together reminded him of the summer Luke and Greg fixed the moldy deck in their backyard while Joey and Staci’s moms, Lupe and Maria, brought out the paletas they had made the night before.

Now here they were, Max Rook, all grown up, the big beautiful bastard. Of course, he had to be huge, must have been all the vegetables, because Maximillian Anthony Rook stood at a hefty 6’2” at 210 pounds of pure muscle. It pissed Staci off actually, because he remembered the scrawny little fifteen-year-old who used to cause all sorts of problems, admittedly those problems were probably caused by Staci’s sister Izzy, but Max was involved.

Max had come a long way, and they were so proud.

At this point they were pretty drunk. They had gotten to the bar early to avoid the crowd, but now it was late, and they kept drinking and playing games. Nick Rye had slipped away from his lovely pregnant wife and started playing darts with them.

Staci sucked at darts. You would think, with all the baseball he played growing up and the sharpshooter training that he had he would be better, but a dart was far different from a baseball or a bullet, so he was sitting out this round and talking to Kim.

Poor Kim, her husband dragging her to a bar while she was pregnant, but apparently it had been her idea. She didn’t want to become a recluse just because she had a bun in the oven.

“Hey Stace!” Joey yelled drunkenly in his direction, “Will you get me another beer, my darling? I am in the process of kicking Rye’s ass so hard his baby can feel it.”

“Hey! Don’t you bring Nick Jr. into this!” He noticed Kim roll her eyes. Nick was so sure that she was pregnant with a boy, but it was too early to tell.

Staci bowed to her, “As you wish, your highness.”

He walked up to the bar as Mary May turned towards him, “Miss Mary May you are beautiful as ever,” he said with a smile.

“I’m not giving you a discount Pratt,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Staci pouted, “Aw, don’t look at me like that.”

The man next to Staci snorted, “You always act like this much of a bitch, Pratt?”

Pratt and Mary May looked over to him. Parker James, douchebag extraordinaire who was forty years old and still living with his momma, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me _Staci,_ ” he spat, “Maybe your daddy didn’t fuck you hard enough when you were a kid. Maybe if he did you wouldn’t be such a faggot little bitch batting your eyes at anyone who looks at you.”

The whole bar went silent. Anyone who lived in Hope County for more than a few years knew what had happened to Staci as a child—knew why Michael Pratt wasn’t around.

Staci could hear Joey rush over, “What the fuck—.”

Staci put his hand up and she stopped. He wanted to handle this himself. He could tell Parker was wasted and looking for a fight, otherwise he would have kept his mouth shut. Staci did his best to keep his composure. If he lashed out at everyone who brought up his father’s abuse, especially in conjunction with his sexuality, he would be in prison right now.

“Parker this is not a fight you wanna have,” Staci warned.

“What are you gonna do abou—”

“You know,” Staci cut him off, crossing his arms, “Is this about that time when you ran into me at Hollyhock and asked me to blow you in the bathroom and I laughed in your face? You were pretty drunk. Did you go home cryin’ that day? I can’t remember.”

“What—”

“Did you go home and cry in your momma’s bosom? ‘Oh no momma, I ain’t gay but that Pratt boy’s got a pretty mouth and he laughed at me when I asked him if I could fuck it.’”

And that was it, the moment Pratt had been waiting for. Parker raised his fist to punch him, but the hit never landed.

A strong, scarred hand was clenched around Parker’s wrist. Staci’s eyes followed the owner—big guy, at least 6’4”, red hair, scars all over, military jacket reads “J. Seed.” A Seed? There was no way this could be flamboyant lawyer John, and this man didn’t look like a preacher, so he had to be Jacob.

Jacob was the Seed brother everyone heard about the least. John was famously offering to defend the assholes who got brought into the station, and Joseph was the new pastor, adding a Baptist church to rival Father Jeffries’ Catholic one, and the citizens of Hope County who hated Catholicism flocked to Joseph—even Nancy went there every Sunday.

The only thing anyone knew about Jacob is that he lived up in the Mountains at the old veteran’s center, trying to fix it up, and sometimes making house calls to fix other people’s problems as part of his contracting business.

That’s when Staci noticed that Jacob’s other hand was holding a pocket knife to Parker’s throat. Shit.

All Staci wanted to do was provoke Parker into punching him so Joey, who kept her handcuffs on her at all times, could arrest him and they could call Lewis over to take him to jail, this was _not_ what he wanted to happen.

Parker started to whimper, “H-Hey man, what—”

“Quiet,” Jacob spat, and turned to Staci, “You good?”

Staci rolled his eyes, “I had that handled.”

Jacob smiled, “I’m sure you did, but some things can be avoided.” Ah, so Jacob knew Pratt was trying to provoke him.

“Hey c-can you let me go?” Parker had tears welling in his eyes, looked like the knife was starting to bite into his skin a little bit.

Jacob slowly turned back to Parker, “That depends, are you gonna be a good boy?” Menacing, Staci felt a shiver travel down his spine.

Parker nodded.

“What was that? Can’t hear your head rattle.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, sir!” Jacob chuckled and took the knife away from Parker’s neck.

“Good boy,” Jacob let him go and Parker stumbled from his grasp, Jacob kicked him as he tried to get away, “Now get the fuck out of here.” And Parker was gone.

Now Staci was pissed. He slammed five dollars on the bar and took the beer Mary May was numbly holding and walked out of the bar with all eyes boring into him.

“I’m going out for a smoke, you don’t need to follow me,” Staci said to Joey and Rook. He needed to be alone, and Joey and Max hated being around Pratt when he smoked.

As soon as the door closed, Staci could hear the whispers start. He sighed, this was supposed to be a good fucking night.

Staci pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his bomber jacket pocket and sat down to light one up when he heard the door open, “Dammit Jo, I told you not to follow—” Staci stopped when he noticed the boots. Big combat boots, had to be a men’s fourteen. Staci looked up and met Jacob Seed’s eyes and glared.

Finally, he looked away and finished lighting his smoke. Marlboro Reds—Staci had been a loyal customer since he was fifteen.

Jacob cleared his throat, “Can I bum one off ya?”

Staci didn’t look at him as he pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and handed the cig and the lighter over to Jacob. Staci closed his eyes as he heard Jacob inhale while he lights his cig, “What do you want?”

Jacob handed Staci his lighter as he moved to sit next to him, “Nothing.”

Staci scoffed, “Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

They sat in silence as they finished their smokes and Staci drank his beer. He shivered slightly—it was starting to get colder, now that October was just on the horizon.

Staci wanted to tell him off for interfering with _his_ problem, but he didn’t have it in him. Staci could have taken Parker, even though he had a few inches on him and is at least forty-five pounds heavier, but did he really want to start a fight with a man built like a MAC truck? Not really. He didn’t think Jacob would go for it anyway. It’d be like a chihuahua trying to fight a pit bull.

By the time he and Jacob finished their cigarettes, Joey and Max were outside, “Hey,” Jo said, “Are you ready to go?” She looked suspiciously at Jacob, but quickly averted her gaze back to Staci when she realized Jacob was staring at her.

Staci sighed and rubbed his cigarette butt on the side of the trash can next to the bench, “Yeah, I guess.” He threw away the butt and his now empty beer. He felt awkward. Should he say something to the man who stepped in to stop him from getting punched, however unneeded?

“Uh… see you around, I guess?” He glanced over to Jacob’s bright, piercing blue eyes. His eyes, clear as the sky, seemed to contrast the rest of his grungy, scarred appearance.

“See you around, Deputy.”

The deputies walked to Max’s car in silence. The man doesn’t like to drink a lot, apparently, so he offered to DD. Usually, he and Joey would fight for shotgun, but she immediately went to the backseat.

“So… what were you two doing out there?” Joey asked once Max had gotten the car started.

Staci rolled his eyes, “Smoking, Jo, and before you ask, no, I do not want to talk about what happened in there.” Emphasis on the not.

“Okay, but I just have one question,” Max started, “That shit you said about Parker, did that really happen?”

Staci laughed, “Oh yeah. Shit, I never told you about that? It was a long time ago. I think I was home on break from school and I stopped by Hollyhock to say hi to Xander and grab a beer before I drove back to Billings, and Parker James, Trump fucker extraordinaire, asked me if he could fuck my mouth in the men’s bathroom. I was so shocked I laughed, otherwise I probably would’ve let him down easier.”

“No! Oh my god.”

Joey chimed in, “Maybe you should’ve done it. Maybe it would’ve cured his homophobia and made him a flaming homosexual like the rest of us.”

Staci laughed, “Fuck no. That man has aged like curdled milk. Age is just a number for me, but I’m pretty sure if I grabbed his hair during sex his toupee would come off.”

“Age is just a number, huh?” Max asked.

“Well, I subscribe to the belief that you can be hot at any age, although more often than not age does tend to make people ugly. I mean look at Adelaide Drubman for example, totally bangable. I suppose that’s why Xander is banging her when she’s forty years older than him.”

“Gross.” Max made a face that clearly indicated disgust.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna tell Hurk you think his mom is ‘bangable,’” Joey snickered.

“What, like you don’t agree with me? Besides, Hurk would probably admit that his mom is hot if you asked him.”

Max made another disgusted face, poor gay baby. Now he knows how Joey feels when he and Staci talk about hot guys.

Max pulled up to Staci’s lovely little trailer home, “Hey do you guys want to stay the night?”

Joey looked sad, she knew what he was doing. Staci hated being alone after having to talk about his father. Having other people around, that he knew loved him and cared for him, helped with the nightmares.

Joey gave him a small smile, “Sure Stace.”

Max smiled too, “I’m down. Besides, my parents will probably be glad to have the house to themselves for the night.” Staci forgot Max still lived with his parents.

Joey technically did too, but she lived in an apartment her dad had built over the garage, so it was still her own place, kind of.

They all walked up to Staci’s tiny trailer home with one bedroom. It was quaint, but perfect for Staci who didn’t need anything extravagant. His sister Gabi scoffed at him when he bought it, saying he could afford something better, and if not, she would help him pay for it.

_“I don’t need a big place, Gabs.”_

_“So you’re just gonna be trailer trash?!”_

Staci internally rolled his eyes at the memory.

He reached into his pocket for his keys and found something sharp, “What the…?” he muttered and pulled out a business card. Something was written on it in red pen.

CALL ME IF YOU NEED ANYTHING

Staci turned the card over.

SEED CONTRACING SERVICES

REMODLEING / RESTORATION / REPAIR

JACOB SEED

jgseed@seedcontracting.com

C: 406-XXX-XXXX / F: 406-XXX-XXXX

Staci scoffed at the audacity of this guy. Who does he think he is? White-knighting his way into Staci’s business and then slipping his business card into his pocket unnoticed? What an asshole.

“What’s that?” Joey asked and ripped it from his hand before he could say anything, “Jacob Seed? The guy from the bar? He gave you his number?”

“Are you gonna call him?” Max asked. Staci rolled his eyes and pulled out his keys to unlock the door.

“I think you should,” Joey chimed in again.

“Definitely, he’s your type. Strong, silent, fucking massive.”

Staci finally got the door open, “Not. Interested.”

“Why? I’m a lesbian and even I can admit the way he took down Parker was hot.”

“Yeah, you’re not even the least bit interested?”

“No! Now drop it,” Staci ordered. Max cowered away while Joey rolled her eyes and huffed.

“Whatever, I’m programming his number into your phone,” and she shoved her hand into his pocket to get his phone before he could do anything about it.

Staci was about to put up a fight but quickly gave up with a hefty sigh, “If you’re gonna be on my phone, can you at least order a pizza?”

“Sir yes, sir!” she mock saluted. Her Captain from the Navy is probably rolling over in his grave.

After the pizza came the deputies played Staci’s PS4 until they could barely keep their eyes open. Finally, at like, two in the morning, they decided they were tired enough to stumble into Staci’s ridiculous king-sized bed that took up almost the entirety of Staci’s room.

Once Joey and Max were asleep, Staci pulled out his phone and went to his contacts. Sure enough, Jacob Seed was there, with a little knife emoji after his name. Staci huffed, locked his phone, and plugged it into the charger.

He was so glad he didn’t have to work tomorrow.

* * *

 

September 7, 2001

 

It was routine now. Every few days, Staci’s dad would get up to go pee, or he would get up to get a drink, sometimes he would come home late from work. Every day, Staci would leave his door open, so that when the day finally did come, his father would know that he was in bed, waiting.

He had to do it. He had to make sure his dad never touched Izzy and Gabi. His dad had suggested it a year ago, getting his twin sisters in bed with him. It was then that Staci knew what had to be done.

_“Daddy,” he said as his father pulled his underwear back on, “If you touch the girls then who will want me? Don’t forget me please.” God, just saying it made him sick._

_“Oh Staci,” he said squatting to be eye level with his eight-year-old son, “No one could replace you. It would be just once.”_

_“If you go to Izzy and Gabi I’ll cry and scream, and then mama will know. You’re MY daddy.” He felt like he was going to puke._

_“Of course, baby, of course.”_

Now he waited. Someone flicked the hall light on, meaning his father had stayed late at work. He would come into Staci’s room tonight; he usually did when he had to work over.

His father walked into Staci’s room, forgetting to shut the hall light off. Staci was about to tell him to do it, to save electricity, but he kept his mouth shut.

He waited patiently as his father removed his clothes. He got on top of him, and it started. Staci closed his eyes to stop the tears. _You would think you would be used to this by now_ , Staci thought.

He heard the light from his parents’ bedroom turn on, his father was too focused to hear it, but Staci did.

He heard his mother ask herself why the hall light was on. His father didn’t hear it, but Staci did.

He heard his mother ask herself what that squeaking noise was. His father didn’t hear it, but Staci did.

He heard his mother turn the door knob to his room. His father didn’t hear it, but Staci did.

He heard his mother gasp. This time his father did hear it and turned around in time for his mother to swing Staci’s little league bat into his face.

And then it was over. His father was knocked out on the floor, his mother ran to call the police. His sisters were still asleep.

And for the first time in three years.

Staci screamed.

* * *

 

September 28, 2017

 

Staci saw Jacob Seed again a week later.

His phone started to ring on his way to work, his mom, oh boy. “Ma,” Staci started, “how are you?”

That’s when he heard his mom was crying, “Oh mijo.”

Staci started to panic, “¿Qué está mal?” _What’s wrong?_

“Anastacio,” his mother wasn’t using his nickname, she wanted something, “I went into the basement and the stair snapped and my leg fell through. It hurt so bad, mijo.”

“Jesus,” he muttered, he could tell his mom cringed at the use of Jesus’s name in vain, “are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine, just a few scratches. Luke came over when I called him and he helped me out and patched me up, but now,” she sniffled again, “what am I going to do about the stairs, mijo? Luke said they’re rotted.”

Staci sighed. She wanted him to fix it, for free of course, even though there was no way he could do that, even with Luke and Greg’s help. He remembered the deck they tried to fix, they butchered it and they had to hire an actual contractor.

A contractor. Staci knew a contractor. A contractor he did _not_ want to talk to.

“It’s okay mom, I think I know a guy who can help us out.”

“Okay, Anastacio,” she started, still wanting something clearly, “You-You’ll come over when he has to be here, won’t you mijo? I don’t want a strange man in my house without you there.”

There it is. She was excited to have an excuse to make Staci come over.

Staci smiled, she could’ve just asked instead of waiting for her stairs to rot, “Yeah mom, I’ll be there. I’ll let you know when I call him.”

 

It was noon by the time he worked up the courage to call Jacob.

“Just do it, Stace. Like ripping off a band-aid,” Max said.

“Yeah, if you aren’t interested, why are you hesitating?” Joey chimed in. He hates his friends.

Staci sighed, “It’s not that. I just—He’s clearly interested, or else why would he have slipped his business card in my pocket with a special note on it? I don’t want him thinking the feeling is mutual.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sure, Jan.” Joey cackled at Max’s “Sure, Jan” comment.

Joey leaned against her desk, “Y’know, it’s probably for the best. I looked him up, and he’s older than your mother.”

“No!” Max gasped, “He is not!”

Staci stayed silent, “Oh yeah. 1971. He’s also big as _fuck_. His license has him at 6’5” and 230 pounds.” Joey added.

“Damn, I bet his dick is hu—”

“Will you shut up?” Staci finally chimed in, cutting Max off.

Max narrowed his eyes, “I’m gonna tell Izzy you’re being mean to me.” Staci rolled his eyes and walked into the breakroom.

Now or never, Stace. Now or never.

“Hello?” Fuck.

“H-Hi, is this Jacob Seed?”

“Yep.” Shit.

“This is uh… this is Deputy Pratt.”

“Deputy? How can I help you?” God, Staci could hear his voice perk up. This is awful.

“Uh, yeah. My mom, Maria, she fell through the stairs to the basement this morning. Apparently, the wood’s rotted.”

“Shit. Is she okay?” Ignore the genuine concern in his voice, Staci, you are not interested.

“Uh, yeah, just some scratches. I was wondering if you were free anytime soon? Maybe you could come over and give us an estimate?”

Jacob chuckled, “You know, when I gave you my number, I wasn’t expecting you to use it for _this_.”

Staci huffed, what an arrogant asshole, “Well consider yourself lucky that my mom needs repairs done, because otherwise I wouldn’t have called you at all.”

Jacob sighed, “Maybe that came out wrong. I didn’t give you my number for, I don’t know, a booty call? That’s not what it was about. I gave it to you in case you needed someone to talk to.”

Staci was taken aback, “Why would I want to talk to you? We barely know each other.”

“I just, uh… shit. I know what it’s like, to uh… how do I say this without pissin’ you off? I know what it’s like to have a uh… not so savory childhood. My daddy may not have treated me the way yours did, but he laid his hands on me in other ways.” Jacob was nervous, Staci could tell.

Jacob also was unsuccessful in not pissing Staci off, “So… what? You wanna braid each other’s hair and swap daddy horror stories? I don’t think so.”

“No! I just… look. I’m not the best at the whole… socializing thing. My only friends are my siblings. But when I saw you stand up to that bastard in the bar, I just thought…”

“What? That we could be friends?”

“Yes.”

Huh. “What about _that_ made you think that we could be friends?”

Jacob huffed, “Listen. This is gonna sound ridiculous, but I have a problem connecting with people. A lot of people are… shit, I don’t know… too happy? Too well adjusted?”

“And you think I’m not happy or well adjusted? You got a weird way of trying to make friends.”

Staci could hear Jacob getting frustrated, “No! That’s not what I fucking mean, god dammit,” he sighed, “I don’t fucking know. You’re interesting. You look like you don’t put up with shit. That’s why I gave you my number.”

Interesting? Interesting. Staci chuckled, “For the record, next time you wanna be friends with someone you should probably just talk to them rather than slip an ominous note into their pocket.”

“Well, I’m gonna take the fact that you’re still talkin’ to me as a sign that I made some progress.”

Staci laughed, “Oh no no no, don’t get it twisted. The only reason I’m still on the phone with you is because I need someone to come and take a look at my mom’s stairs.”

Jacob chuckled, “Well I think I can do that. What time do you want me to come over?”

“Well, I get off at uh… five. It’ll take me an hour to drive to my house in Holland Valley and then over to my mom’s in Henbane. Do you think you could be there at six?”

“Yeah, I can do six. Text me the address?”

“Sure. Oh! Don’t eat any dinner before coming over because my mom _will_ want to feed you and she will be sad if you don’t eat her food.”

Jacob laughed. Staci felt himself get warm, “Okay, peaches. Will do.”

Staci smiled, “Okay. Bye.”

“See you later.”

Staci hung up, still feeling warm.

Wait a second.

Peaches?

God, he hopes Jacob never calls him that in front of anyone. Or he could tell Jacob not to call him that ever, but part of Staci knows that Jacob would just ignore him.

So, is this gonna be a thing? Him and Jacob? God, part of him really wanted it. What was wrong with him? He’s made it clear he is _not_ interested.

Guess the lizard part of his brain that craves affection constantly didn’t get the memo.

When Staci left the break room, he heard Joey and Max scrambling to their desks, trying to act like they weren’t just being eavesdropping shit stains.

Staci stared at them while they did their “act natural” routine for a moment, and then turned to Nancy, who was filling her nails, “Yep, they were listenin’ in on ya.”

Staci turned to them and smacked Max on the head because he was closest, but when he looked at Joey she started running, “Can’t catch me!”

“Bitch, I did _not_ play baseball for like fifteen years to be outrun by your ass!” Staci quickly cornered her and put her in a headlock.

“What the _hell_ is going on in here?” Whitehorse bellowed, making Staci and Joey freeze. After a beat, Staci slowly let Joey go.

“N-Nothing, sir,” Joey stuttered.

The sheriff sighed, “The good people of Hope County are _not_ payin’ y’all to horse around like little kids. Hudson and Pratt, I need you to head over to the trailer park in the Henbane and tell Sharky to turn his damn music down. I guess one of his neighbors works the night shift and is trying to sleep.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

After they convinced Sharky to turn down his music, he offered them beers. Joey and Staci figured, why not? It’s not like anything else was going to happen before their shift was up.

“So,” Sharky started as he handed them their beers, “I heard a rumor about you, Staci Pratt.”

Joey perked up and Staci groaned, “Great, I can’t wait to hear this.”

“Me too,” Joey said and sat forward, waiting to hear what kind of bullshit was flying around the town now.

“I heard that you and Jacob Seed got the hots for each other.”

Staci groaned, and Joey laughed, “Where in the goddamn hell did you hear that from?”

“Nancy. She’s my momma’s cousin and we got a group chat with the whole family.”

Staci put his face in his hands, “Great. Fucking great. That means the whole damn town thinks that.”

Joey started laughing, but Staci abruptly cut her off, “I don’t see why you’re laughin’, this is _your_ fault.”

“How is it my fault?”

“You and Rook are the ones who kept talking about me dating him at the station, giving me facts and shit.”

Joey laughed, “Uh-huh, like you didn’t spend four hours agonizing over whether or not you should call the man.”

“Fuck. Off.”

Sharky nodded, “Yep, that sounds like you got the hots for him, Pratt.”

Staci groaned again, “Not you too, Boshaw.”

Sharky stayed silent and took a swig of his beer. Staci sighed, “Look, I have met the man one time, and spoken to him twice. There. Is. Nothing. There.”

Joey winked at Sharky and looked at her watch, “Oh shit, Stace, aren’t you supposed to be off right now? It’s 5:15.”

Staci started to panic, “What?! Fuck I’m not gonna have enough time to get to my house and change before I head to my mom’s. Fuck!”

“What’s wrong with going in your uniform, Stace? You go to your mom’s house all the time dressed like that. Or do you wanna look presentable for a certain 6’5” mountain man?” Joey smiled and batted her eyes.

Staci stopped. He needed new friends. Sharky started laughing.

“It’s not 5:15 is it?”

Joey was laughing now, “No, it’s 4:30.”

New. Fucking. Friends.

 

Staci sped home, trying to contemplate if he should shower. If he showered, then he would be clean, but his hair would also be wet, and who likes wet hair? Not that Staci was looking to impress anybody.

No, no shower. Work wasn’t that busy, so he wasn’t sweaty, just some cologne would do.

Staci got out of his car and fumbled with his keys.

“Boy are you in a hurry. Where you off to, Staci?” A voice from behind him called. Fuck.

It was a nice day, of course Mrs. Jeffries would be out on her porch. Of course, Staci had to live next to Father Jeffries’ mother.

“I gotta go see my mama, Mrs. Jeffries. We got a contractor coming over to look at the house and she doesn’t want to be there alone.”

“Contractor? Is your contractor that nice Jacob boy? I don’t care much for his brothers, but he seemed real nice. Quiet.”

“Mmm-hmm.” God where’s his key? Where is his key?

“Y’know, even with all those scars he’s so handsome. Everyone says John’s the looker, but I think Jacob is better lookin’, he’s got that manliness about him. Don’t you think so, Staci?”

Staci stopped and turned around. Was she serious? “Not you too, Mrs. Jeffries.”

“What? I was just talkin’.” Staci ignored her and finally unlocked his door.

“Have a good evening, Mrs. Jeffries.” He said as he walked through his door.

She smiled, “You too, sweet pea.”

God dammit. Staci suddenly yearned to be back in college, in Billings, where no one knew shit about you except your friends.

Staci threw off his uniform and put them in the wash. What to wear, what to wear? Should he change his underwear? No, that’s too fucking desperate, besides, what did he think was gonna happen at his _mom’s_ house?

God, Staci hated his lizard brain.

“Just put on jeans and a t-shirt, Stace. Maybe a flannel because it’ll probably be cold later.”

Staci may or may not have picked out the tightest jeans he has and may or may not have picked out his nicest long-sleeved Henley.

He caught himself looking in the full-sized mirror he had on his closet door. Nice, flattering black jeans, his dark green Henley which was kind of tight but brought out his eyes, perfect.

Jesus, what was wrong with him?

He sprayed some cologne on himself, reapplied deodorant, and made sure his hair was in place. “Okay,” he said to himself in the mirror, “You’re good, let’s go.”

It was about 5:25 when he left, so he should get to his mom’s before Jacob gets there. Hopefully.

 

Jacob got there the second after Staci, so Staci waited for him to get out of his car.

God he was so fucking massive. Max’s comment from earlier popped into his head. Don’t think about his dick, Staci. Do NOT think about his dick.

Jacob was wearing the same military jacket he had been wearing in the bar. Tight black shirt underneath with his dog tags and a rabbit’s foot hanging around his neck. Hm, Staci thought, superstitious much? Staci also couldn’t help but notice that Jacob was definitely wearing the tightest jeans he owned. Maybe he was trying to impress Staci? Food for thought.

However, Staci’s attention was immediately redirected when he noticed the giant fucking dog gallivanting behind him.

“Whoa, that dog is huge,” Staci blurted. God he can’t keep his fucking mouth shut.

Jacob didn’t seem to mind. He chuckled, “Yeah she is. Her name is Judge. You wanna pet her?”

Staci’s eyes lit up, “Uh... fuck yeah.” Jacob patted her, and she moved towards him. That’s when Staci noticed she was wearing a camouflage vest.

JUDGE

PTSD SERVICE DOG DO NOT DISTRACT

SERVICE DOG DO NOT SEPARATE DOG FROM HANDLER

SERVICE DOG WORKING DO NOT TOUCH

U.S. ARMY VETERAN SERVICE DOG

There were patches all over her telling people not to touch her, but Jacob had given Staci permission, so he squatted and dug his fingers into her fur and scratched her ears. She licked his hand.

Staci looked up at Jacob, “She’s beautiful. What breed is she?”

Jacob scratched his head, “Well, officially she’s just listed as a Husky mix, with the mix being unknown.”

Staci looked confused, “Then what’s the mix, in reality?”

“Wolf.”

Staci looked at him with disbelief, “She is not.”

“She is, honest to God. I found her abandoned in the woods while I was hiking in Georgia. You can tell she’s half-wolf just by looking at her face.”

Staci pulled back and held her face in his hands. She whined because he stopped petting her, but he could see the similarities. The snout, the eyes. This was a wolfdog. “Jesus.”

“I think she ended up being more dog than wolf. Might’ve been why her momma abandoned her. Runt of the litter,” Jacob whistled, and Judge returned to his side, “Anyway, we should probably head inside. I think your mom’s waitin’ for us.”

Staci turned around and saw his mom’s shadow in the window. Yep. Time to go inside, to be in his house, with his mother and his… whatever the hell Jacob is.

His mother hugged him as soon as he got in the house, “Anastacio! ¿Niño lindo, cómo estás?”

Staci answered in English, “I’m fine, mom. How’s your leg?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, mijo, I’m fine,” she turned to Jacob, “And you must be Jacob. I’m Maria, it’s lovely to meet you,” she held out her hand for him to shake. She scanned him, and he could suddenly see a change in his mother. She giggled.

Great, his mother had a thing for Jacob. At least _their_ relationship would be age appropriate.

Jacob smiled and shook her hand. God, he towered over her. His tiny, five-foot tall Mexican mother and this giant of a man who looked like he should be a Viking. It looked ridiculous.

“Encantado, señora.”

His mother gasped, “Staci! You didn’t tell me he could speak Spanish.” Staci could practically feel his pupils dilate.

“I think you’ve seen the extent of it, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of time for you to learn. Lord knows I still struggle with my English, and I’ve lived here for almost thirty years.”

“Your English is impeccable, Mrs. Pratt.” _God dammit, Jacob, please for the love of God stop flirting with my mother_ , Staci thought.

His mother turned red, “Please, call me Maria,” she cleared her throat, “Anastacio, if you don’t mind, could you show Jacob the stairs to the basement while I finish dinner?”

Staci led him to the door of the basement, “So… Anastacio?”

Staci rolled his eyes, “Don’t call me that. The only people who call me that are my mother and my sisters. Speaking of which, stop flirting with my mother.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. Staci knew his mom was hot. Nick Rye had even said so, said she looked like Salma Hayek but with darker skin. He even sang that fucking “Stacy’s Mom” song to him.

Jacob laughed, the bastard, “Whatever you say, peaches.” God, he hated that fucking smile.

Staci opened the door and you could see where his mother fell through the stairs, there was a leg sized hole in the middle of the second step.

Jacob tentatively pressed his foot onto the top step. The wood squeaked and bent beneath him. “Damn,” he said, “I can tell how weak this wood is and this is only the top step. There a lot of flooding down here?”

Staci shrugged, “When you live this close to the Henbane your basement floods all the time. We have a wet-vac and a dehumidifier to clean up the flooding. We also have flood insurance.”

Jacob nodded, “Gotta be the long-term moisture exposure then that made this wood so weak. I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.” Jacob started to move downstairs when Staci instinctively grabbed his arm.

“Wait.”

Jacob looked back at him and Staci didn’t know what to say, “Uh… be careful.”

Jacob smiled. It was almost kind of smarmy, like this was the smile he used on people he was flirting with, “Aw, you worried about me, peaches?” Staci hated it.

“No. Fuck you.” Jacob laughed. He was starting to hate that laugh.

“Watch your step,” he said as Staci followed him down to the basement.

Jacob turned the lights on. Staci could hear Judge’s paws hit the steps as she followed them down. Staci snorted, if Jacob had wanted to get into his pants, he should’ve led with her.

Jacob got to work measuring things and taking notes. Staci sat on an old ottoman that he was pretty sure his mother brought with her from Oaxaca. “Hey, is it alright if I pet Judge while you work? Do you need her right now?”

Jacob kept working as he spoke, “Sure. I’m usually okay when I’m working,” he patted her once, “Go ahead, girl,” and Judge ran over to Staci.

“Oh, she likes you. She doesn’t even like John.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Whenever he stops by my house when I’m not out, so she’s not working, she growls at him.”

Staci smiled at Judge as he scratched behind her ear, “Well, I’ve always been pretty good with animals.”

“Yeah, John thought so too.”

Staci bit his lip, “So when you pet her like that, what are you doing?”

Jacob continued to measure and write, “Well, when I put the vest on her she knows it’s time to work. When I give her a pat, that means she can approach someone else and allow them to pet her, and when I whistle, she knows to return to my side. There’re other cues too, like sit, stay, that sort of thing. And even though I’m letting you pet her right now, she’s still working. She may not be able to notice small stuff, but if something bad happens she’ll know, and be back at my side.”

“Wow,” he looked at Judge, “You’re a smart girl aren’t ya? Yes you are!”

“You ever think about getting one? A service dog, maybe an emotional support dog, that sort of thing?”

Staci scoffed a little, “I’m not a veteran.”

“Don’t need to be a veteran to have PTSD.”

Staci narrowed his eyes, but decided to ignore that comment, “Well, I prefer cats to dogs anyway, even though I very much love both.”

“You got a cat?”

Staci smiled, “I do. He’s a bastard and his name is Soup.”

Jacob stopped, “Soup? You named your cat… Soup?”

“Yeah, well technically his name is Potato Soup, but I just call him Soup.”

Suddenly Jacob was shaking, but Judge didn’t seem alarmed, “Are you okay?”

Jacob took a deep breath and a soft laugh left his lungs, “Oh god. Yeah, I’m fine. I was laughing.”

“Oh.”

“What compelled you to name your cat Potato Soup?”

Staci smiled, Jacob had stopped working and all his attention was on Staci now, “I wanted to name him something truly ridiculous. Maybe that’s why he keeps stealing my keys and hiding them around my house.”

Jacob laughed, God he really was handsome.

“You should come over, meet him sometime.” _What am I doing?_ Staci thought.

Jacob stopped laughing, “Really?”

Great, now he had to come up with an excuse, “Uh… y-yeah. You said you wanted to be friends, right? Well my friends come over to my place and play video games or watch movies. If we’re gonna be friends, why should you be any different?”

Jacob stared in disbelief. This is what he wanted, right? “You… want to hang out… with me?”

Staci shrugged, trying to make himself seem nonchalant, “Yeah, sure. I’m off on Saturday and I work the night shift on Sunday. You’re welcome to come over?”

Jacob gulped, “Uh… okay. Text me your address then.” Staci pulled his phone out of his back pocket and texted him.

“There. Oh, and you can bring Judge. Soup is pretty good around other animals.”

Jacob smiled, “Alright, it’s a…,” he’s going to say date, “I-I’ll be there. How’s six sound?”

“Jacob! Staci! Dinner’s ready!”

Staci moved to the stairs, flashing Jacob a smile and a wink as he moved past him, “Six sounds great.” _Why am I winking at him?_

 

Dinner was awkward as fuck.

“So, Jacob, you were in the military?”

Staci sighed, “Jesus, ¿necesita empezar con eso?” _Do you need to start with that?_

She smacked his arm, “Cállate, los adultos están hablando.” _Shut up, the adults are talking._

Staci glared at her. She must really have the hots for Jacob if she was being mean to him. Staci was not about to compete with his mother. _Compete over what? You don’t want him!_

“Tengo veinticinco años, mamá.” _I’m twenty-five, mom._

“¡Exacto! Cierra la boca y come la comida.” _Exactly! Shut your mouth and eat your food._

Jacob cleared his throat, “Uh… everything okay?”

Maria kicked her son under the table, _Ow!_ , and smiled at Jacob, “Everything’s fine. How’s the chicken?”

“It’s good. It’s nice to know someone in Montana knows how to season their food,” he winked at her, she laughed and flipped her damn hair. Staci was gonna vomit. So much for not flirting with his mother.

“To answer your question, yes, I was in the military—Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and then the Iraq invasion before I was discharged. 82nd Airborne Division.”

Staci wasn’t sure if he heard that right, “Airborne? You were a paratrooper?”

Maria looked confused, “I… I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.”

Jacob chuckled, “No need to apologize, ma’am. My unit, we would be sent to a certain location and we’d jump out of an airplane and parachute to the ground. That way the enemy wouldn’t be able to see us approach from the ground. Or we would go into areas that were difficult to enter on foot and secure them.”

Staci’s mom’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward. Of course, she had unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. _Why don’t you just ask him to motorboat you, mom?_ Gross. “Wow.”

Jacob glanced and Staci and then back to his mother, his eyes never leaving her face. Staci had to give him props for resisting the urge to stare at the tits his mother was shoving in his face, “I was the DM, the uh… designated marksman, for my squad. My job was to get rid of enemy combatants quickly and accurately. Kind of like a sniper, but I was on the ground with my squad rather than far away with a scope.”

“Wow, so you must be a really good shot, huh?” His mother asked.

Jacob leaned back and smiled, “I never miss,” he glanced at Staci and winked. _What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

The rest of the evening went on like that, his mom asking dumb questions, Jacob deflecting when the questions cut too deep. _Are you related to Virginia Seed? I work with her at the hospital._ She’s my sister-in-law. She’s married to my brother Joseph. _What about you, Jacob? Is there a woman in your life?_ No. _Why not?_ Because there’s not.

It was at the end of dinner when his mother finally brought up the stairs, “What do we need to do for the stairs?”

“When did you move into this house, Mrs. Pratt?” Good, he didn’t call her Maria. He’s not interested.

Staci’s mother seemed disappointed at the ‘Mrs. Pratt,’ “In 1990, why?”

“Are these the same stairs that were here when you moved in?”

“Yes.”

Jacob sighed, “That’s what I thought. The damage is extensive. I’m surprised they didn’t break sooner, with all the flooding that’s probably happened down there in the past thirty years. I’m gonna have to replace the whole staircase and part of the wall. We’ll have to demolish them and then start from scratch. It’s gonna cost about two grand.”

Staci could see his mother’s soul leave her body, “Two grand? That’s so expensive!”

Jacob sighed, “Yep. And that’s the conservative estimate. If we find more damage to the wood around the staircase, we’ll have to demo and replace more. That’ll drive the cost up. I’m sorry, Mrs. Pratt.”

Staci put his hand on his mother’s, “Don’t worry mom, I’ll help chip in. I’ll call Izzy and Gabi too, see if they can help out. Well, maybe just Gabi, Izzy’s not so good at saving her money.”

Maria wrapped her hand around her son’s, “No, mijo, you’ve got too much on your plate. So do Isadora and Gabriela. Isadora, with her new job, and Gabriela needs to save up, so she and Sami can get married after he finishes medical school—”

“They have not even discussed that, so you should stop right there. I can practically hear Gabi complaining about the fact that you just brought up them getting married again.”

“But they’ve been together for so long!”

“I know mom, but they would want to help with this, I know they would. Let us help you.”

Finally, she relented, “Alright, but I’m not happy about it.”

Jacob seemed pensive, “Gabriela… Gabriela Pratt? The woman from the news?”

Staci groaned, “Yes my little sister is a newscaster for ‘the number one news station in Montana,’” he put in air quotes.

“Wow, I didn’t know I was in the childhood home of a celebrity,” Jacob smirked, like he was so funny. Ha ha.

His mother lit up, “Yes! I’m so proud of my babies,” she pulled out her phone and showed Jacob a picture of him and the twins when they graduated from MSU Bozeman, “They’re twins, Isadora and Gabriela. Identical, but Isadora keeps dyeing her hair crazy colors. Aren’t they beautiful?” They were. They looked just like their mother with the same beauty mark above their lip, but they had the same big, hazel eyes as Staci.

Jacob looked at a loss for words as she shoved her phone in his face, “Uh… they are certainly a uh… handsome group of kids?” Staci was about to burst out laughing. What a response.

Then his mother really leaned forward and lowered her voice, “You know, even though I had three kids, I’m still pretty tight down—”

“Okay! I’m gonna clear the table! Jacob, will you help me with the dishes?” Staci felt like he was going to die.

Jacob almost too enthusiastically grabbed his and Maria’s plate and followed Staci into the kitchen, “I will do that! Thank you for a lovely dinner, Mrs. Pratt.” Staci tried to ignore the disappointed look on her face.

Once they were out of earshot Jacob leaned close and lowered his voice, “Thank you.”

Staci laughed nervously, “God, I am so sorry about that. She’s uh… she’s very lonely.”

Jacob laughed with him, “It’s okay. I might uh… I might know a guy I could set her up with, if she was interested.”

“Well, I think she was interested in you and you only.”

Jacob leaned up against the counter, “Well, she’s not my type.”

Staci crossed his arms. His mother was everyone’s type, he could tell by the way even Adelaide Drubman drooled after her, “What, the kids put you off?”

Jacob scoffed, “No, it’s cause she’s a woman.”

Staci could feel his last two braincells going into overdrive. Woman. It’s cause she’s a woman. Gay. Jacob just told Staci he is gay. Jacob is attracted to men. Staci is a man. Gay.

“O-Oh! Okay.”

“That gonna be a problem?”

Staci was shocked. First of all, Jacob was gay, second of all, does he not know about Staci? “N-No! I’m sure you’ve heard about me and my… proclivities. I was the local homo until Rook came out of the closet, even though I’m bisexual, people tend to gloss over that and go straight to the ‘will fuck men’ thing.” _Staci will you shut up. Please stop talking._

“Besides, I thought you knew after… after that night in the bar?”

Jacob shrugged, “I don’t like to make assumptions. People like Parker James call other guys homophobic slurs all the time, don’t matter if they’re true or not.”

Staci nodded. They finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher and joined Maria Pratt in the living room where the front door was.

“Well, I should get going. Thank you for dinner Mrs. Pratt. Best food I’ve had in weeks.”

His mother rested her hand on Jacob’s bicep and squeezed. There comes that vomit feeling again, “It was my pleasure, Jacob. You should come over for dinner again.”

“Will do, Mrs. Pratt.”

Staci grabbed his jacket, “Are you leaving too, Staci?”

Staci nodded, “Yeah, I’ve got day shift tomorrow, so I need to get some sleep.”

“Okay, mijo, drive safe.” She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, “I love you.”

“Love you too, mom. Pero, podría parar estado caliente por cinco minutos, ¿por favor?” _But, could you stop being horny for five minutes, please?_

She gasped and reached up to smack his head, “Anastacio! ¡Nunca me hables así otra vez!” _Never talk to me like that again!_

Staci laughed and walked out the door, “¡Te amo!” His mother huffed and shut the door.

“God, what did you say to her to make her that mad?” Jacob asked after watching the whole conversation.

Staci chuckled, “I asked her to stop being horny for five minutes.”

Jacob choked and tried not to laugh, “God, I’m surprised she didn’t beat your ass.”

“Kind of difficult for her to do it now.”

“I doubt many people get the upper hand on you, these days.” Speaking of not being horny for five minutes, Jacob should try it. _Stop flirting with me!_ Staci thought.

Staci cleared his throat awkwardly, “Well, they certainly try.”

Jacob smiled, he seemed to like that answer. “I’ll see you Saturday, peaches.”

There it was, that nickname again. Staci bit his lip, “See you.”

And they drove off in different directions. Staci to Holland Valley, and Jacob, to the Whitetail Mountains.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, turns out I'm actually churning this story out like no tomorrow. I'm already on chapter four, and I've read through this one multiple times, so I figured I'd post it.
> 
> I'm hoping to write about ten chapters, but we'll see where this takes me.
> 
> There's going to be at least two flashbacks per chapter, and those flashbacks are NOT in chronological order. We'll be in the 90s one second and in the mid 2000's the next only to go back to the 80s, slowly piecing together their backstories. The flashbacks are also the only time we will see Jacob's perspective, as I plan on keeping the main story entirely in Staci's point of view. Maybe I'll write a little extra story from Jacob's POV to be posted separately, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
> 
> Shout out to my Indiana pals! I live about fifteen minutes away from Wheeler, so I thought I'd use it. Pay homage to the 219

January 15, 1991

 

The flight to As Salman Airbase in Iraq was going to be long and uncomfortable, according to Staff Sergeant O’Neil. The new privates were supposed to answer to him, and he answered to the commander. Jacob didn’t know, he wasn’t very good at the whole ‘chain of command’ thing.

The plane took off and they were on their way to Iraq, to fight, and maybe die, so the United States could protect its oil interests in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Jacob wasn’t a fool, he wasn’t fighting to protect the citizens of America. He was fighting to protect the pockets of the rich, but what else was he supposed to do? He didn’t have any skills, but he could fight. He wanted to fight. Maybe he even wanted to kill.

The guys in airborne school thought it was weird that such a young guy could be so jaded already. Jacob thought they were fools.

The guy next to him bumped his leg into Jacob’s to get his attention. He offered his hand and smiled. He was cute. Shorter than Jacob, but most people were. He had to be about 5’9”, curly brown hair, brown eyes, lightly tanned skin, big smile. His smile was so large his eyes closed and turned into crescent moons. Jacob swallowed and shook his hand, “Private Andrew Miller.”

His voice was smooth. Sweet. Like milk chocolate. “Jacob Seed.”

“Are you a private too?”

“Yeah, but I enlisted last year. Are you 82nd or 101st?” The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were both headed to As Salman, although they would part ways after that.

“82nd, you?”

“The same.”

Miller smiled, “Well, it’s nice to at least know someone here, now.”

“Yeah.” Jacob returned the smile, but it was smaller, with no teeth. Jacob’s public defender from his stint in juvie had told him that his teeth were too sharp, and that his smile scared people.

“So, where are you from?”

“Rome, Georgia.”

“Oh, I’m from Wheeler, Indiana. Tiny town about an hour out of Chicago. Like 500 people live there and they all own farms. Rome’s a pretty big city though, ain’t it?”

Jacob raised an eyebrow, what did this guy constitute as ‘big?’ “Not really, there are universities bigger than my hometown.”

Miller shrugged, “Well, at least I’ve _heard_ of Rome, I doubt you’ve heard of Wheeler.”

“I doubt anyone’s heard of Wheeler.”

Miller laughed. It was like music to Jacob’s ears, “That’s for damn sure.” Miller bit his lip, thoughtful. He was gonna ask about the scars.

“Did you work on a farm growing up? Or something like that? You look like you swallow ten raw eggs for breakfast.”

Jacob looked at him and started laughing. That was not the question he was expecting.

Oh, he hadn’t laughed in so long. He probably hadn’t laughed since he was fifteen, now that he thought about it.

It felt good.

The rest of the flight was like that, with Miller talking and making Jacob laugh. Sometimes Jacob would make Miller laugh, and it was like hearing angels sing to him.

 

That night, Andrew Miller crawled into Jacob’s bunk, and Jacob discovered that Andrew’s lips were as soft as they looked.

* * *

 

September 29, 2017

 

Staci was so fucking tired. He had been alternating between weird sex dreams about him and Jacob to weird sex dreams about Jacob and his mother. It was gross, and even though Jacob had made it pretty clear to him that he was gay, Staci’s lizard brain still saw his mother as a threat. His own mother. God. It was so bad he had to skip his morning run in the hopes of getting some more sleep.

Anyway he ended on a dream where Jacob was fucking him so good that he came untouched, so Staci woke up hard as a rock and had to rub one out in the shower while he was half asleep.

God, how did he go from hating this guy to having the hots for him so fast? He blamed his friends. They influenced his lizard brain with their innuendos.

Staci was falling asleep when Joey walked up to him and slammed her hands on his desk. He startled awake, nearly falling out of his chair, “God, Jo, what the fuck—”

“How did last night go?” She waggled her eyebrows and smiled. God it was too fucking early for her good attitude. All that time in the navy made her perky as hell in the morning.

“What do you mean, how did last night go? He came over to my mother’s house, he gave us an estimate, we had dinner, we left. That’s it.”

“Mmhmm. When are you seeing him again?”

Staci groaned and rubbed his face, “Tomorrow. He’s coming over to hang out.”

Joey looked like the cat that caught the canary, “Ooh! I’m gonna text Max.” Rook was working the night shift today.

Staci lolled his head back and pinched his nose. He really needed new friends, “Jesus, Jo, it’s not like that. We’re just… trying to be friends, so I invited him over to do friend things, like we do. It’s gonna be no different from when you or Max come over.”

As if on cue, Staci’s phone started ringing.

JACOB SEED 🔪  
Hope County, MT

They both stayed silent and stared at Staci’s phone as it rang.

“You gonna answer that?” Joey said, as if daring him to pick up his phone.

Staci sighed, defeated, and answered.

“Hello?” Joey was cackling.

“Hey, you busy?”

“I’m at work, but there’s nothing going on right now. What’s up?” Joey was making kissy faces, to which Staci kindly responded with a middle finger.

“There’s been a change of plans for tomorrow. Joseph and his wife are going out of town this weekend. Some religious conference BS in Billings, and they want me to watch their daughter because they don’t trust John to do it, they don’t trust Faith either, and they don’t trust her in the house alone even though she’s fifteen. They’re leaving at noon, but I’ll be in Helena working on a project until five. I know this is a lot to ask, but do you mind picking her up and keeping an eye on her until I can get back? Then we could reschedule for another time?”

Staci was stunned, “You… you want me to watch your niece?”

Jacob sighed, “If you don’t want to do it, I understand, it-it’s a lot to ask of someone I only just became friends with, but you’re a cop and I don’t trust a lot of people to look after her. I suppose I could ask Joseph if he knows anyone else who could watch—”

“Sure.”

“What?”

“Sure, I’ll pick her up. She can stay at my place, but this doesn’t change our plans. You’re still gonna come over and we can play video games or watch a movie or whatever, she’ll just be there. It’ll be fine.”

Jacob was silent for a moment, “You sure? It’ll take an hour to get back from Helena, so you would actually have her till six.”

Staci smiled to himself, Joey was making some crazy inappropriate gesture that he ignored, “Yeah, unless you don’t want to? But if you’re cool with it, so am I.”

Jacob chuckled, “I think you’ll regret that statement. Delilah can be a handful.”

Staci shrugged, “How hard can babysitting a fifteen-year-old be?”

“Do you remember being fifteen?”

A soft laugh left Staci’s mouth, “Shit, yeah. Maybe I will regret it, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Okay. Text me the address so I can pick her up, I’ll be there at noon.”

“Will do. See you tomorrow, peaches.”

Staci smiled at the nickname, “Bye.”

Staci felt a little warm inside. Joey stayed quiet as Staci put his phone down. Almost immediately, his phone buzzed with the text message Jacob just sent him.

Joey clicked her tongue, “Not interested, huh?”

“Shove it.”

* * *

 

February 12, 2011

 

Freshmen rarely got to play during their first season. A miracle had to happen to get them on the field. So, Staci sat in the dugout in mid-February, cold as fuck. Why did the Division II season start in February again? Because the NCAA hated them, that’s why.

It was the first game of the season. Away, versus Colorado State. They were getting their asses kicked.

Coach was getting frustrated. His seniors sucked, but if he put in freshmen they would be pissed. That was a chance he was going to have to take.

Pratt played center field, always has. His coaches said it was because he was fast, and he was. He broke his high school’s record for fastest 400m in gym class. The track coach was always pissed that he chose baseball over track and field, especially when he was faster than any of the runners.

Staci liked to run. He also liked to hit things. It was cathartic.

Their center fielder, who was also their fourth batter, was having a fucking awful day. The fourth batter in the line-up is supposed to be the best. Their job is to get the team a fuck load of points. If there’s three batters on the bases, then the fourth batter is the one who makes it so the third base can get to home. If the fourth batter hits a home run? That’s four fucking points.

For the last eight innings, their center fielder had struck out, even when there were three people on the bases.  It was a mess.

It was the top of the ninth, the last inning of the game, and their coach had to do something.

“Pratt!” Staci jumped up.

“Yes, sir?”

“You’re replacing McGonagall, don’t fuck it up.”

“Yes, sir!”

Staci ran out to the center field position. They were on defense. He tried to ignore McGonagall’s disheartened look as he got replaced by a freshman.

It was the top of the ninth, and the score was five to two, Colorado State. They were really gonna need a miracle. It sucks to lose the first game of the season.

Staci managed to catch two of the balls before they touched the ground. Automatic outs. Staci loved defense.

Colorado State got three outs without scoring, now it was the bottom of the ninth, and Staci just realized he was the most important batter in the game, the cleanup hitter, and this was their last chance at winning. Fuck if that wasn’t nerve-wracking.

The first three batters got on the bases with no outs. Full bases. Staci had to get this _right_.

Staci rolled his shoulders and steadied his bat. He was ready.

The first pitch was too low, foul ball.

The second pitch, Staci hit, but it went to the side, behind the line, foul ball.

_Focus. Focus. Focus._

The third pitch, Staci hit, and hit hard.

He could hear his teammates in the dugout screaming. That’s when he saw it. The ball flew over the fence.

A home run.

It was a fucking miracle.

* * *

 

September 30, 2017

 

Staci’s alarm went off at seven A.M., fucking Jacob, making him get up to pick up his niece.

 _He didn’t make you do shit, you offered._ Fuck off.

Did he have anything in his trailer for a fifteen-year-old to do? He could give her booze, but he doubted Joseph or Jacob would like that.

Staci went through the motions. He didn’t run yesterday, but he didn’t want to push himself too hard. Almost every morning, he would run five miles west and then five miles back, for a total of ten miles, usually took him around seventy-five minutes. The fastest he ever ran was sixty-two.

Staci changed into his running clothes. It was forty-two degrees this morning, so he pulled on a hoodie.

The one good thing about living in the middle of nowhere, Montana? The views.

Staci had two running playlists, punk and hip-hop. He was in a punk mood today. Black Flag it is.

By the time Staci got back, it was 8:30, and Father Jeffries was in his mother’s driveway to pick her up.

“Good morning, Staci, just finished your morning run?” Most people knew Staci ran ten miles every day, or at least tried to.

Staci took a sip of water and nodded, “Morning, father. Yeah, I made good time today considering I didn’t run yesterday.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Couldn’t sleep all night. I decided to forgo my run to try to get a little bit more sleep.”

Father Jeffries looked thoughtful, “Maybe you should come to mass. Clear your head, get you focused.”

Staci had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He hadn’t been to mass since he moved out of his mother’s house. Staci huffed a laugh, “Nice try, Father Jeffries.”

“Well, figured, since I was here, I’d at least give it a shot.”

The door to Mathilda Jeffries’ trailer opened and she hobbled over to them, “Good morning, Staci! How are you?”

Staci smiled at her, “I’m doing well, Mrs. Jeffries. What are you up to today?”

She smiled and patted her son’s arm, “Oh, Jerome is going to take me to the farmer’s market. What are your plans for the day, my dear?”

Staci stalled. Tell her? Don’t tell her? “Oh, I gotta run a few errands, but that’s it.”

She hummed as Father Jeffries opened the door for her, “Have a nice day, Staci,” she started, “Oh, and do tell Jacob Seed hello for me. He’s such a polite man.” Father Jeffries shut the door.

Um. What?

How did she? What the fuck?

By the time Staci found the words to ask her how she knew he was seeing Jacob today, Father Jeffries had already driven off.

Man, you can’t have any damn privacy in this fucking county.

 

Staci took a shower and got dressed. Tight dark washed jeans, heather gray v-neck, the leather bracelets his mom bought him a few years ago, perfect. It was going to be hot today, so he didn’t want to wear long sleeves, and this shirt made his arms look nice. You could also see the few tattoos Staci had when he wore this shirt, maybe Jacob was into that.

Staci had the Greek word for resurrection above the inside of his left elbow, which is the word where his name comes from, he had a band of small mountains that wrapped around his arm below his left elbow, and on his right bicep he had a portrait of Maria de la Soledad, his mother’s patron saint and the patron saint of Oaxaca, and fourteen black and white lilies encircling his arm below his right elbow—the symbol of Saint Maria Goretti. She was not Staci’s patron saint, but he sympathized with her.

No, Staci’s patron saint was Saint Jude, of course. To be fair, he was twelve when he picked him for his confirmation, and “the patron saint of lost causes” sounded pretty appropriate. His mother had given him Saint Jude’s pendant as a necklace the day of his confirmation, and he had worn it everyday since, but people rarely saw it. You could see it in this v-neck though.

You would think, with Staci’s tattoos and jewelry, that he would go to mass, but Staci lost his faith a long time ago. He still believed, and he held his Catholic upbringing very close to his heart, particularly because it reminded him of his mother, but he no longer believed that God was looking out for him, he hadn’t believed that in a long, long time.

His mother’s heart would break if she heard that.

Maybe he should go to confession. Cheaper than a therapist.

Staci finished brushing his teeth and styling his hair. It was 9:30 now, so he had time to grab some breakfast and run to the store to figure out what to feed this kid.

Maybe he should text Jacob.

An hour later he was standing in the frozen food isle of Walmart staring at a package of pizza rolls. Does she like these? Staci ate them all the time when he was fifteen. He still eats them now, but would she eat them? Maybe she’s vegan.

Staci sighed and pulled out his phone.

**STACI (10:26 A.M.)**

what does this kid like to eat?? like whaT am i supposed to give her?

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:27 A.M.)**

You realize I’m at work, right?

**STACI (10:27 A.M.)**

oh, im sorry mr. im-at-work…. what does ur fucking niece like to eat???

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:28 A.M.)**

LOL. Okay, cranky. She’ll pretty much eat anything, but if you buy her hot cheetos she’ll worship the ground you walk on.

**STACI (10:28 A.M.)**

thank youuu. that’s what i needed

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:29 A.M.)**

You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything else or she gives you problems.

 

Staci bought some frozen meals, ice cream, hot cheetos, and drinks. At the last second, he decided on a case of Miller Lite for when Jacob came over. He only had hard liquor at his house.

The line was long, and Staci was bored. He unlocked his phone and clicked on his chat with Jacob. Maybe he shouldn’t bother him, but Staci had already sent the message before logic could kick in.

**STACI (10:51 A.M.)**

watcha doin

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:51 A.M.)**

Working, like I said. Why are you texting me?

**STACI (10:52 A.M.)**

im checking out and im bored

**STACI (10:52 A.M.)**

u kno for someone who is working ur awfully fast at responding

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:53 A.M.)**

You caught me. I’m trying to finish some paperwork, which is hard enough without you distracting me.

**STACI (10:53 A.M.)**

u love it

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(10:54 A.M.)**

I can think of worse things.

 

“Uh… sir?”

The cashier was waiting for him to pay, and Staci was staring at his phone with a dumb fucking look on his face.

“Oh shit, sorry, my bad.”

He didn’t respond and looked very bored. Staci pushed his card into the reader and got the hell out of there.

There was another text from Jacob.

 **JACOB SEED** 🔪 **(11:02 A.M.)**

I’ll see you tonight, peaches.

 

Staci sped back to his trailer, put the groceries away, and was at Joseph Seed’s church at 11:59. He might have had to speed to get there on time, but thank god for police license plates.

Joseph Seed was putting suitcases into the back of a white SUV while a pretty strawberry blonde woman was talking, what seemed rather sternly, to a bored looking teenager.

“You will be on your best behavior. Do not think for a second that we won’t turn this car around if Jacob or Deputy Pratt tell us you’re misbehaving.”

The teenager, who obviously must be Delilah, sighed, “Okay, mom. I’ll be good.” She clearly wasn’t happy.

Delilah Seed had red hair, like her mother and her uncle. She’d pass for Jacob’s kid before Joseph’s, in Staci’s opinion. The only indicator that Delilah was Joseph’s kid was in her nose and jaw. Someone might as well just taken Joseph’s head and put it on this child’s body. She also had the same blue eyes as her dad and her uncles.

Joseph was the first to notice that Staci had pulled up.

“Deputy Pratt! It’s lovely to finally meet you in person.” Joseph smiled and held out his hand for Staci to shake.

“Pastor Seed, it’s nice to meet you too.” Staci shook his hand looked up at him. He had to be about 6’2”, god were all the Seed men tall?

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Jacob. Thank you so much for offering to watch Delilah until Jacob gets off work. I would have asked John or Faith, but they do not live lifestyles appropriate for a child to be around.”

The words “lifestyles” and “appropriate” being used in the same sentence triggers Staci’s fight or flight response, but Joseph has to know Jacob’s gay. He doesn’t seem like one to hide himself, especially from his family.

Joseph seemed to pick up on Staci’s train of thought, “It’s not… like that. John likes to party and fly his plane drunk on weekends, and Faith is a marijuana farmer, and although I see and understand the importance of marijuana for medical and even recreational reasons, Faith gave Delilah a pot cookie once and it will not happen again. I love my siblings, but Jacob is the most reliable of the three.”

Staci let out the breath he had been holding, “Then why leave her with me, when you’ve only just met me?”

Joseph smiled, “Jacob trusts you, and I trust Jacob. He does not trust easily, but he is very good at figuring out who to trust, and he does it very quickly. You also have an honorable profession, and a good reputation. Besides, it will only be for a few hours.”

Oh.

Staci nodded. Virginia and Delilah approached them. Virginia, with a smile, and Delilah, with a grimace.

“Deputy Pratt, thank you so much for offering to look after Delilah for us,” she smiled and offered her hand and Staci took it, “I’m Virginia, Joseph’s wife, and I’m sure you guessed that this is Delilah.”

Delilah crossed her arms and said nothing. She was wearing an American flag tank top that looked like it was for men, a black sports bra underneath, and black distressed skinny jeans. Her nails were painted black and she wore a grey knit beanie with a pokeball pin on the side.

Virginia smacked her on the back of the head, Delilah rubbed it and sighed, “Nice to meet you, Deputy Pratt.”

“You can just uh… call me Staci.”

She seemed to perk up a little, “Why is your name Staci?”

“Delilah! Do you really think questions like that are appropriate?”

Staci smiled, “It’s fine, Mrs. Seed,” Staci turned to Delilah, “It’s a nickname.”

“Cool. I never met a guy with a girl name before.” Virginia gasped again and reprimanded her, but Staci understood. Gender non-conforming kid meets guy with gender non-conforming name, maybe he’s accepting, maybe she can talk to him.

Joseph closed the trunk, “All right, Virginia, let up on her, we gotta go. Thank you again, Deputy Pratt.”

“It’s not a problem.”

The Seeds said their goodbyes and I-love-you’s and they were on there way, leaving Staci with Delilah Seed and her overnight bag that she was to take to her uncle’s.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

They got in the car and it was awkward. Is Delilah non-binary, are they just gender non-conforming? How is Pratt supposed to broach this topic?

“So uh… do you prefer to go by Delilah?”

They shrugged, “Never had a problem with my name.”

 _God how do I ask this fucking question_ , “Do you… use different pronouns?”

Delilah slowly looked over and laughed. Did he do something wrong?

“Wow, you’re the first person to ask me that besides Uncle Jacob. It’s cute that you’re so nervous.”

Staci laughed too, but that doesn’t answer his question.

“For the record, I identify as a girl, I’m just a uh… fuck it, I’m a lesbian.”

Alright, “Hey, that’s cool, my best friend’s a lesbian.”

She shrugged, “I just wasn’t sure how cool you were with it, considering the Saint Jude necklace and the rosary on your rearview.”

Staci chuckled, “That shit’s just family stuff. My mom bought me the necklace when I was confirmed, the rosary was her grandfather’s. Catholicism was a big part of my upbringing, and it reminds me a lot of my mother, so I just, like to surround myself with it. Even though, according to the bible I’d be going to hell in a handbasket.”

“’Cause of the tattoos?”

“’Cause I lie with men.”

She turned towards him, “For real? You’re not bullshitting me?”

Staci glanced at her, it was sad that she had no one to talk to about this, why hadn’t Jacob said anything, “Yeah, Jacob hasn’t talked to you about this kind of thing before?”

“I love my uncle, but that man is straight as a board.”

Staci erupted into laughter, “What?!”

She looked confused, “Do you know something I don’t?”

“Uh, yeah, that your uncle is about as straight as a damn curly straw. I’m probably straighter than him.”

Her eyes went wide, god he hoped Jacob was okay with him telling her all this, “No, you’re lying.”

“No, I’m definitely not.”

Then her eyes narrowed, “Wait, how do you know?”

“Well I—”

“You fuckin’ him?”

Staci nearly lost control of the car, “God! No! He’s just… he’s just a friend.”

“So, you wanna fuck him?”

“God, you talk to Jacob like that?”

“Absolutely. It’s why he’s my favorite uncle, but you didn’t answer the question.”

Staci sighed, “No, I do not want to fuck your uncle.”

She looked at him like she didn’t believe him, “Uh-huh, but you’re watchin’ his niece for him?”

Staci took a hand off the steering wheel and raised it in defense, “Hey, I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

“Uh-huh.” She didn’t believe him.

Staci sagged, “God, I gotta hear this shit from my friends, now I gotta hear it from you too?”

She laughed, “So even your friends don’t believe that BS?”

It was going to be a long six hours.

 

Staci thought Delilah was gonna shit a brick when she saw the consoles in his living room, “Oh my god, you have a PS4 and a Switch?!”

She immediately ran over to the games displayed beneath the TV and pulled out Mortal Kombat X, “Can we play this one?”

Staci laughed, “Sure.”

So they got started. Staci brought out the bag of hot cheetos, which Delilah loved (thank you, Jacob), and he turned on his Playstation.

Staci picked Kenishi and Delilah picked Mileena, “You ever played Mortal Kombat before?”

“Nope. I love video games, but my parents won’t get me a PS4 or anything. They think video games rot the brain, so I just watch Let’s Plays on YouTube or Twitch. They don’t care if I play them at a friend’s house or anything, but they won’t buy me stuff.”

“Harsh. Well if you ever want to play video games you’re welcome to come over.”

She paused and looked at him, “Are you for real?”

“Yeah, so long as your parents say it’s okay to come over, I or Jacob could pick you up and you can play any video game you want.”

She KO’d Staci for the first round, “God, I hope you and my uncle actually do get together so you can be my uncle too.”

Staci scoffed, “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, ever.”

“Denial, denial, denial.”

Staci rolled his eyes, “Hey, speaking of which, why didn’t you know that your uncle is gay?”

Delilah shrugged, “He doesn’t talk about himself. Like, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be close with a woman, and my parents never talk about setting him up with anyone, even though I know my mom’s got a lot of single nurse friends because she always complains about how they complain about her happy family, blah blah blah. I don’t think Jacob ever hid it, he just doesn’t talk. Like, I heard my dad complain to my mom about how Jacob doesn’t talk about his time in the military, or what happened before my dad found him again, he’s like a brick wall when it comes to emotion.”

“What do you mean, when your dad found him?”

“All I know is that they were separated when they were kids, and then a few years ago my dad started to try and find them. So, one minute, I had no aunts or uncles, because my mom’s an only child, and then suddenly I had two uncles and an aunt. He didn’t try to find my Aunt Faith though, she found us.”

“Wow. What do you remember from when he found Jacob?”

Delilah thought for a moment, “Well, dad found Uncle John first. Then one day they came home with this beat-up big dude who looked homeless and smelled like piss. I just remembered that he looked real sad, but then they cleaned him up, and he seemed happy. At least, I could tell he was happy. He would pick me up and throw me in the air, even though I was like, ten and definitely too big to be picked up. I always knew that when he did that, he would catch me, every time.”

Staci tried to hide the fact that tears were welling in his eyes. That might not be the whole story, but damn if it wasn’t a good one.

Soup took that as his cue to jump out of his hiding space and run across the room, knocking over Staci’s games.

“Hey, you bastard!”

Delilah immediately got up and started chasing after him, “Oh my god, you have a cat? Why didn’t you tell me you have a cat?!”

 

By the time Jacob arrived, Staci and Delilah had finished the bag of hot cheetos and were on to the spicy doritos, and they were entrenched in Mario Kart 8. Soup was eating cheeto crumbs off the floor.

“Eat my dust, Staci!”

“I have never thrown hands with a child, but I might now.”

“I would kick your ass, Pratt!”

There was a knock at the door, Staci glanced at the time, it was 6:06, so it must be Jacob.

“Come in! The door’s unlocked!” Staci was not about to let this fifteen-year-old girl beat him at a game he’d been playing since he could hold a controller.

And just as Jacob walked in, Delilah Seed kicked Staci’s ass. Fuck Rainbow Road.

She turned to Staci, “Ha! You suck, old man!”

Jacob started, “Is that anyway to greet your uncle—"

“Uncle Jacob!” she shouted and threw down her controller. The next second she was off the couch and hugging Jacob’s massive frame. Staci took this as an opportunity to get up and grab a beer. He noticed Judge find a corner and curl up in it. She still had her vest on.

“Hi, Lila, you having fun?”

She smiled, “Hell yeah. Also, just saying, if you married Staci, I would be the happiest niece in the world.”

Staci choked on his Miller Lite, and Jacob looked stunned, “Uh… I don’t think I’m gettin’ married to anyone any time soon.”

She shrugged and walked over to the fridge to grab something to drink, “I’m just saying, that if you ever do decide to get married, you should marry Staci.” Staci felt like he was gonna disintegrate.

“Uh…,” Shit his voice was suddenly an octave higher, “Let’s order pizza, what kind of toppings do you like, Delilah?”

Jacob chimed in, “You mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Sure, second door on the left. What toppings do you want?”

“I don’t care, I’ll eat anything.”

Delilah leaned in and whispered, “He really will eat anything, even pineapple.”

Staci looked offended, “Hey, pineapple on pizza’s good.”

Delilah shivered, “Never mind, I don’t want you to be my uncle anymore.” Staci laughed.

They ordered two large pizzas and one medium just in case, and then an order of breadsticks. A few minutes after ending the call, Jacob still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom.

Staci lowered his voice, “What is taking him so long?”

Delilah waggled her eyebrows, “Maybe he’s freshening up for you.”

Staci groaned, “Oh my god, Delilah, will you stop? Also, nothing is gonna happen with you here.”

She cocked her head, “So, you’re saying, if I wasn’t here you’d be, you know…” she stuck her finger in her mouth and made a popping sound.

Staci was so confused, he almost started laughing, “What the hell is that?”

She did it again, “You know?”

Staci shook his head, “No, I don’t know, and for the record, even though I don’t know what that is supposed to mean, no, it would not happen.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, from now on you’re limited to one ‘Uh-huh’ a night, and you just used yours, so I don’t want to hear it.”

Staci walked over to the hallway and saw massive Jacob sitting cross-legged on the floor and playing with Soup. Soup was chasing his hands and nudging into them so that Jacob would have to pet him.

“God, he doesn’t even like me, but you got him in your lap in five seconds?”

Jacob chuckled as Soup grabbed his hand with his paws and pushed his hand onto his head, “I guess I got a way with animals.”

Delilah joined them in the hall, “Aw man,” she pouted, “I couldn’t even get him to come near me, and I’ve been here for six hours!”

“Well, come pet him now.”

Jacob and Staci erupted in laughter when Delilah got near him and Soup darted down the hall and into Staci’s room.

“Asshole,” she muttered and crossed her arms angrily.

They moved back into the front part of the trailer. Delilah went over to Judge in the living room and started petting her, and Staci and Jacob went to the kitchen.

Staci’s trailer was very open, with the kitchen and the living room being separated by a line differentiating between the hardwood of the rest of the trailer and the linoleum of the kitchen. Staci handed Jacob a beer and hopped on the counter next to the sink. Jacob opened his beer and leaned up against the little island in the middle of the kitchen.

“Nice little place you got here.”

Staci laughed, “Don’t lie to me, I know it’s a piece of shit. My sister made that clear when I bought it.”

Jacob smiled and shrugged, “Well, seems to be a good size for a guy living alone with no kids, so.”

“That’s what I said! I don’t need a big place, not right now.”

Jacob thought for a bit and his finger circled the edge of his beer can, “Did you tell my niece that I’m gay?”

Staci sighed, “Shit. It kind of came out. She told me that she’s a lesbian—”

“She’s a what now?”

Staci winced, “Fuck, I thought you knew.”

Delilah walked into the kitchen then, “Knew what?”

Staci groaned, and Jacob turned to her, “I just accidentally outed you to your uncle, Delilah, I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, “It’s okay. Especially now that I know Uncle Jacob is gay.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow, “You know your Uncle John is bisexual, right?”

Her jaw dropped, “What?!”

Jacob and Staci laughed, “Shit,” Staci started, “I knew that, and I’ve never even met the guy.”

She huffed, “Man, and I thought my dad’s bible shit meant everyone in this family was an anti-gay bible thumper.”

Jacob looked at Delilah in disbelief, “Did your dad never tell you why we moved here?”

She looked confused, “No, I just figured we moved here so Aunt Faith could take over her grandparents conservatory.”

“Well, that’s part of it. The main reason was because the Southern Baptist Convention, which basically controls all the non-black Baptist churches in Georgia, ran us out of our neighborhood because your father joined the Alliance of Baptists, which is the most liberal group of churches in the South, but most of them were in Atlanta. In Rome, all of the Baptist churches were under the control of the Southern Baptists or some other neo-conservative group, so they started saying we were a liberal hippie cult disguising ourselves as Baptists because your father started advertising acceptance of all faiths, sexualities, genders, races, et cetera, and the other churches wanted to keep the area LGBT and minority free.”

Delilah took a second to let that sink in, “So wait, you’re telling me, that I could’ve come out to my parents two years ago?”

Jacob nodded.

She groaned, “Oh my god, all that hiding and shit and I didn’t even have to do it! God dammit, I wish this family would talk to each other.”

Jacob put up his hands in defense, “Hey, all you had to do was ask.”

She grabbed a Sprite from the fridge, “Ugh. Staci, can I play Horizon: Zero Dawn?”

Staci smiled, “Sure, kid.”

She pointed finger guns at them as she walked backwards into the living room, “You boys have fun in here.”

Staci rolled his eyes and Jacob ignored her comment.

“So, how was your day? Any hot divorcees hit on you?” Staci raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his beer.

Jacob chuckled, “No, this was a commercial job. One of the old buildings in Helena has a crack in the foundation, so we need to fix that so the other team can finish restoring the building.”

“You ever hear back from our flood insurance guy?”

“Oh yeah, I heard back from them today, they said they needed more time to assess the damage. Gotta love insurance companies,” Jacob took a swig of his beer.

Staci hit his head against the cabinets, “Ugh. Did you tell my mom?”

“I did, I texted her, and she asked me out to dinner.”

Staci choked on his beer, god damn these Seeds really need to wait until he’s not drinking to drop bombs on him, “What?”

“Don’t worry, I let her down easy. Told her I was, uh… seeing someone.”

Staci froze.

Seeing someone?

The bell rang.

“Pizza’s here!” Delilah yelled.

“I heard it, Captain Obvious,” she laughed, and he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

He paid for the food, leaving a generous tip, and set the boxes on the island. Once they all made their plates, they sat on the couch together and Staci pulled up Netflix.

“What do you guys wanna watch?”

The first movie option was Spider-Man: Homecoming, which had just come out on Netflix, “Ooh! Can we watch Spider-Man? I’ve been wanting to see that.”

Staci looked over to Jacob, “How do you feel about that?”

He shrugged, “Sounds good to me.”

So they watched Spider-Man, eating pizza and bad snacks and drinking beer, well, Delilah drank soda.

The next thing Staci remembers is Jacob trying to move Staci without waking him.

Staci’s eyes opened slowly and Jacob stopped moving, instead opting to put his hand on Staci’s face. Staci smiled up at him, “Hey.”

“Hey, it’s late and Delilah’s asleep, we should probably go,” Jacob whispered.

Staci was confused, why would they leave? “Why can’t you stay here?”

Jacob’s hand was still on Staci’s face, stroking it has he spoke, “I need to get her to bed, and even if we did stay here, where would I sleep?”

Staci thought that was a dumb question, “You would sleep in my bed.”

Jacob huffed a laugh, “Then where would you sleep?”

Another dumb question, “Also in my bed. It’s a California King, it’s ridiculously big. Max and Joey sleep in it with me all the time.”

Jacob looked confused, and maybe a little jealous? Maybe Staci was just tired and projecting, “Who?”

Staci realized that Jacob had only ever seen his friends, he hadn’t actually met them, “Uh… Deputy Rook and Deputy Hudson. We’ve been friends since we were kids. They were with me that night in the bar.”

Jacob thought for a moment, Staci panicked, “I-Is that a problem? You don’t have to sleep in my bed but, I’d really like it if you stayed.”

Jacob gave him a soft smile, “Ok. Let me go get Lila’s things out of the car, you go get ready for bed.”

Staci smiled back at him, “Okay.”

Staci changed into an old MSU Billings Yellowjackets shirt that was turned into a cut off and some cropped sweatpants and tried to find something for Jacob, but all he could find was a XXL Coca Cola shirt he got for free at a baseball conference in college. Staci didn’t know if any of his pants would fit Jacob, until finally he found an old pair of pajama pants that he thought he accidentally stole from his college roommate.

Just in time too, because that’s when Jacob reappeared with Judge in tow. Judge was no longer wearing her vest, and she padded over to the foot of Staci’s bed and staked her claim like she had been in Staci’s house before.

Staci handed him the clothes, “I found you some clothes, god, I hope they fit,” Staci bit his lip, “I’m gonna go brush my teeth and stuff, you can get dressed in here.”

Jacob nodded and started taking off his jacket. Do not stare at his arms, Staci, do NOT stare at his arms.

Staci was very awake now. Thanks, sleep addled brain for convincing Jacob to fucking sleep with him, that wasn’t a problem _at all_.

Staci tried to calm himself while he brushed his teeth and washed his face. It took some work to look this good.

When Staci left the bathroom, he could see Jacob lying down on his bed, one arm folded behind his head, and the other scrolling through his phone. It was so domestic, Staci felt his heart clench.

He leaned up against the door frame, “The bathroom’s free if you want to use it. I have a few extra toothbrushes in the top left drawer.”

Staci got in bed and Jacob went to the bathroom. God this was really happening, wasn’t it?

Staci dozed off by the time Jacob had come back, he opened his eyes when he felt the bed dip and smiled, “Hey.”

Jacob ran his fingers through Staci’s hair, “Hey. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

Staci curled forward and drifted off with Jacob’s fingers in his hair, humming, what Staci thought, was “Amazing Grace.”

* * *

 

February 27, 2012

 

Jacob nearly groaned when the warm water hit his skin. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a hot shower. What, that had to have been nearly thirty years ago.

John had stylists outside, waiting to fix his hair and trim his beard. John was already making dentist appointments, doctor’s appointments, etc., and Jacob had been home for a total of two hours.

Jacob didn’t want to let himself get used to this feeling. He knew how fast it could be taken away.

When Jacob got out of the shower there were new clothes sitting on the edge of the counter. They were the perfect fit. When did John have the time to measure Jacob and buy him new clothes?

When Jacob entered the bedroom, the stylists were there, along with Joseph. John was nowhere to be found, he was probably on the phone somewhere.

Jacob didn’t talk, Joseph didn’t talk, the stylists tried to but were met with grunts and blank stares. Finally, when they finished trimming his beard, Jacob spoke up and told them what he wanted.

“Shaved down to the scalp, leave some on top,” the haircut he had before he went into the military and was forced to shave it all down.

 _Don’t get used to this. It could be gone tomorrow_.

Once they were finished, Joseph led Jacob downstairs. He could hear a little girl laughing.

“Mommy, do you think he’ll be nice? Like Uncle John?”

“I’m sure he will be, sweetie.”

Jacob saw a beautiful woman, with long red hair and green eyes, and a child, with the same red hair, but the child had Joseph’s eyes and face. Jacob didn’t need Joseph’s introduction to know that this was his niece.

“Jacob, this is my wife, Virginia, and our daughter, Delilah.”

Delilah. Jacob liked that name.

He kneeled down to her level and they stared at each other. She wasn’t afraid and she didn’t ask questions, but he could tell she was still curious.

“You’re my new uncle.”

Jacob smiled with no teeth. The last person to see his true smile was Miller, no one else needed to see it.

“Well, I’ve always been your uncle. I was just… away.”

“Where were you?”

Virginia put her hand on Delilah’s shoulder, “He was lost, honey.”

“Oh,” she looked sad.

Jacob started to panic, he needed to salvage this before she started crying. Two minutes into being an uncle, and he already fucked it up.

But she perked up again, as if she could read his mind, “Can I sing you a song? I’m a real good singer.”

Jacob smiled again, still no teeth. “Sure.”

She started to sway back and forth, “ _Amazing grace,_

_How sweet the sound_

_That saved a wretch, like me_

_I once was lost, but now I’m found,_

_Was blind, but now I see._ ”

It was the most beautiful thing he’d heard in the last twenty years.

Delilah reached up and wiped away a tear that had trickled down his face, “Why are you sad, Uncle Jacob?”

Jacob sniffed, “Well, sometimes bad things happen to people, and it makes them real sad.”

Her hand stayed on his face, her little thumb rubbing into his scars, “Are you sad now, Uncle Jacob?”

He smiled again, this time, with teeth, “No, sweet pea, I’m not sad anymore.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he held her tightly.

He would never let anyone take this away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, fun fact: the title of this story comes from a song by one of my favorite singers, because I'm lazy and turn to song lyrics for titles. If you know it without looking it up, I'll be impressed, because I think I'm her only fan even though her songs have been in used in a ton of shows and commercials. Also her music helps set the tone for this story A LOT.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that my Spanish wasn't god awful.  
> I'm gonna try to update at least once every month. Hopefully twice a month.


End file.
